Some people sometimes experience ear congestion after a night's sleep. However, not everyone knows what to do in this case. If you lay your ears after sleep, it may be due to improper body position during rest or illness. To find out the reasons, it is better to consult a doctor. The prescribed treatment will get rid of the problem.
Main reasons
Why does ear plug after sleep? This phenomenon may be associated with:
- Intermittent blood pressure. This is due to the fact that the person stood up sharply, took an upright position. Because of this, blood pressure instantly changes and deafness appears.
- Sulfur plug or a buildup of sulfur in the ear canal. With rare ear cleansing, sulfuric stagnation appears, in which there will be poor audibility in the morning, and during the day this problem usually disappears. With a large sulfur plug, hearing in one ear can deteriorate sharply.
- Head injury. If, after a blow to the head, congestion and ringing in the ear appear , then an urgent visit to the doctor is required. In the absence of any action, this symptom can cause complete deafness.
- Colds, flu, viral infections. With such ailments, if they are not completely treated, then the mucus can accumulate in the nasopharynx, in the back of the mouth. At night, the mucus sometimes enters the ear canal, so air cannot enter it, which will make you feel unwell and feel numb.
- Inflammation of the auditory apparatus, which occurs in acute or chronic form. At the same time, a person complains that his ear is blocked after sleep. Usually this appears on the side on which he lay. Itching also occurs, sounds when chewing and swallowing, pain, worsening of well-being.
If the ear is blocked after sleep, the reasons may be different. This occurs with an improperly selected pillow or mattress. In this case, the head is positioned incorrectly, and the blood vessels on the neck or in the head are pinched.
Danger of inflammation
Often, stuffy ears appear due to otitis media. Inflammation of the middle ear manifests itself in the form of unpleasant, painful sensations. There may be a ringing, congestion, deterioration in well-being, probably the appearance of pus. Deafness and other pathologies, including brain problems, also develop. Treatment of otitis media is required under the supervision of a specialist. With this ailment, antibiotics are taken, and only a doctor has the right to prescribe them.
What to do?
The method of treatment depends on the problem. If this is associated with congestion from SARS, then therapy for inflammation in the nasopharynx is required. For this, vasoconstrictors are used, with the help of which normal ventilation in the nasal cavity is restored, edema is eliminated at least temporarily and good washing and blowing is ensured. Drying is performed with special drops, antiseptics in the form of sprays.
Be sure to rinse your nose and do it regularly. For this, special systems, ready-made saline solutions, and preparations made independently are used. To do this, you need a little salt - ordinary or sea, as well as water. They must be taken in a ratio of not more than 1 tsp. per liter.
If congestion arises from the penetration of water into the ears, care should be taken to prevent this. Therefore, while swimming, do not pour water on your head. You can protect your ears with cotton.
Prevention
If you lay your ears after sleep, then you must adhere to the rules of prevention. This will make the dream healthy, and feel good after it. The recommendations are as follows:
- The bed, pillow, mattress should not be too soft or hard.
- During the night's sleep, the head needs to be slightly higher than the body.
- With influenza, colds, respiratory viral infections, nasal drops should be instilled into the nose before bedtime.
- At night, you should rest on an orthopedic pillow, with which the head will be in the correct position. In this case, the blood vessels are not constricted, and the spine is located correctly.
Who to contact?
If you regularly lay your ears after sleep, then you need to see a doctor. It is advisable to visit the otolaryngologist (ENT). The doctor performs an examination. Sometimes a referral is given to another specialist.
The doctor performs a diagnostic audiometric examination, an audiogram is performed, which shows the audibility levels of both ears. If a bad result is issued, then this phenomenon may be associated with:
- irregular structure of the nasal septum;
- otitis media;
- allergies while taking antibiotics;
- brain pathologies;
- diseases of the Eustachian tube, auditory nerve.
If he puts his ears in the morning, the doctor prescribes treatment based on the condition of the person. Pharmaceutical products or traditional medicine recipes may be prescribed.
Treatment methods
Inflammation usually occurs due to nonspecific pathogens in the tympanum. Ear pathology is usually associated with nasopharyngeal infections. With the progression of the disease, congestion of the ears appears, which is associated with swelling of the mucous membranes and a violation of the drainage function of the Eustachian tube.
The following methods can be used to eliminate congestion:
- Physiotherapy. Measures are needed to restore normal blood microcirculation in the tissues of the auditory analyzer. In order to improve tissue trophism and restore the functions of the Eustachian tube, the method of heat therapy, phototherapy and the technique of blowing the auditory tubes is used.
- The use of medicines. With them, the pathogenic flora, which leads to inflammation, is eliminated. For this, the means of antiflogistic, local anesthetic, antibacterial effect are used.
- Surgical method. Surgical treatment is used for serious complications associated with mineralization of the auditory ossicles, proliferation of cholesteatoma.
The treatment method should be chosen by the doctor. For this, he focuses on the results of analyzes and the study of history.
Treatment
If you woke up in the morning, stuffed up your ear and passed quickly, then usually treatment is not necessary. But if the problem persists during the day, then the help of a doctor is required. When the ear is blocked after sleep, what should I do? In the absence of other symptoms, the following treatment methods are used:
- It is necessary to remove the sulfur plug if the problem is related to it. It is advisable to do this with an otolaryngologist, but you can do this on your own. For this, hydrogen peroxide 3% (3-5 drops) is instilled into a sore ear. You need to wait a few minutes until the hiss stops. Then a softened sulfuric cork is carefully removed with a cotton swab. If there is a lot of sulfur, then instillation with peroxide and purification is carried out 3-5 times.
- Still sulfur cork is eliminated with camphor alcohol, if congestion does not disappear on its own. It is necessary to instill 2-3 drops, the procedure is repeated up to 5 times.
- A doctor may prescribe a diet in which little sulfur is released. Smoked, spicy, salty foods should be consumed less, but, on the other hand, eat solid fresh vegetables and fruits. During chewing of solid products, sulfur plugs enter the internal channel themselves due to repeated movements of the facial muscles.
Candles
Candles for the ears help, for example, Doctor Vera, Phytomedicine, Reamed. They can be used independently at home. Often they are created on the basis of natural substances: essential oils, healthy herbs, beeswax. Such candles are also used for young children, since they are considered safe.
The procedure for using candles is as follows:
- You should lie on your side so that one ear is on the pillow and the other is open.
- The ear canal should be lubricated with baby cream.
- A napkin is placed on the ear, on which you need to make a hole for the ear canal.
- The candle is placed so that the label is near the hole on the napkin, the top layer is lit.
- You should wait 5-15 minutes before the candle burns out, and then it is removed and extinguished.
- The cotton wool should be moistened in camphor alcohol, it is used to treat the passage in the ear.
- A person needs to lie on his side for 15 minutes.
Although 1 ear was laid after sleeping on one side, candles are used for both ear canals. Then the treatment will be effective.
Preparations
In the early stages of ear ailments, medications that eliminate inflammation can be prescribed. In the treatment of serous otitis media, tubootitis, myringitis, the following agents are used:
- "Flemoklav Salutab". This is an antibacterial agent that destroys the cell walls of microbes, which lead to inflammation in the ENT organs.
- "Digital". This medication is antimicrobial, disrupts the process of reproduction of bacteria, eliminates inflammation and pain.
- Otipaks. Ear drops have a combined effect that eliminates inflammation and pain.
- Otrivin. Drops have a vasoconstrictor effect, swelling in the nasopharynx is eliminated with them.
- "Loratadine." The tool eliminates allergic rhinitis and swelling of the mucous membranes.
With abuse, irreversible changes in the mucous membrane of the epithelium are possible, which lead to tissue necrosis.
ethnoscience
If you lay your ears in the morning after sleep, then folk remedies can be used. But before that, it is important to consult a doctor, since self-medication can only aggravate the situation. The following recipes are effective:
- Birch buds, chamomile and St. John's wort are poured with boiling water (200 g). Components take 1 tsp. The remedy is infused for an hour. Tincture is drunk before bedtime, you can add honey or sugar.
- Periwinkle (flowers) and hawthorn are mixed for 1 tsp., Poured with boiling water (1 cup) and infused for half an hour in a water bath. Then the product must be filtered and let it infuse for 3 hours. You need to drink it 3 times a day for 1 tbsp. l
- It is required to take a cotton-gauze swab, moisten it in sunflower oil or from geranium and olives. This tampon is inserted into the sore ear in the evening and pulled out in the morning.
Effective traditional medicine can eliminate an unpleasant symptom. It is important not to start the problem and to conduct timely treatment in order to prevent dangerous consequences.